March primary for county board will be unique

Published: Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012 10:03 a.m. CDT

By Vinde Wells - Editor

Redistricting has made the March 20 primary election unique for Ogle County voters.

"Once every 10 years voters have the opportunity to elect all 24 county board members," said Ogle County Clerk Rebecca Huntley. "It is especially interesting this year because the county board has redistricted from four to eight districts."

Redistricting, also known as reapportionment, is dictated in the U.S. Constitution, which calls for a census every 10 years to determine the population.

The results of the census are then used to determine how many legislators can be elected to represent the residents in the local, state, and national government.

The process is aimed at ensuring all citizens are equally represented.

"You can only achieve equal representation with current census numbers," Huntley said. "In Ogle County we saw the population move further northeast so our county board will be reconfigured to reflect that."

Instead of four districts each with six seats, the county board now has eight districts, each with three seats.

Huntley said that the election will also be unusual because 10 current county board members did not file for re-election.

"Because several county board members opted not to run again, almost half the board will be new," she said.

Seeking their parties' nominations for county board seats are 35 Republicans and two Democrats.

State and federal legislative and senate districts were also reconfigured by reapportionment, based on the 2010 census.

County board members and the others will be elected in the general election Nov. 6.